ok this is a weird one... my cars been sittin 4 a while, went to start it the other day no crank, went to start it today, it started and ran with security light on, which lead me to think maybe its a vats problem.. after i shut it off and tried to restart it it wouldnt crank again, but no security light when i turned the key.. now heres the thing... car was orgionally a v6 mpfi car and is now a carbed 350, i bought the car with a 305 with a rod knock in it and put a 350 with other mods in... i didnt do most of the wiring, the previous owner did and i simply used it. So i really dont know how the cars wired besides what i have seen. Is it possible i even have a vats system still? About a year ago i replaced the steering column with one from a 84 firebird, i honed the hole for the lock cylinder out a little and put my vats cylinder back in, but in the process i broke the little wire that comes off the vats style cylinder, thought i was ****ed, put it in and it worked flawlessly for about a year and a half. Now all of a sudden im having a no start problem... what gives? any ideas or thoughts are welcomed...

 

Well if you broke off the two wires off the ignition cylinder itself, then the Vats or the Cylinder isn't your problem, as the Vats will only work with those wires attached and working to pick up the proper resistance from the Key. What year is the TPI system?? It may not even have VATS. 85-87 TPI MAF no VATS. 89 TPI MAF has VATS, 90-92 SD also has VATS. Now if it is 1989 or up, then it would have had VATS originaly, but may have been removed from the Prom, or someone has added a resistor to give th proper ohms to bypass the Pass Key Module. Need more info, as you may jsut have a Inline fuse problem. Being that your car is a 89 I believe it should have had a VATS system even with the V6 no?

 

yep, origionally had vats, well since it worked for a year or so without the wires hooked up to the cylinder im guessin its not a vats problem, guess i'll check all my grounds from the ignition switch to the starter, the whole thing that threw me off was the security light coming on.. never had that come on before..

 

Well lets not eliminate the idea of VATS just yet. What year is the TPI system?? If it has VATS, there may be a resistor that has been made to bypass the VATS. What if this is your problem? Know what I mean. Or if we know for sure it does have a VATS system for the TPI and that the VATS has been removed from the Prom, then... we know VATS is not the problem.

 

doesnt have a tpi system, its carbed..

 

LOL!! Crap! Funny thing is I seen that too... You'll have to excuse me, I am trying to help a fella with a TPI and no spark problem at the same time. Have to pay better attention which thread I am on.

Hmmm. Well the VATS in certain ECM's can and will affect the Starter, and the Ignition spark. Get the part # off your ECM. It should be right under the kick panel under the dash on the passenger side.

 

havta go take a look once it stops rainin.. i thought it was under the drivers side on a maro tho?

 

Nope the ECM should be under the Passenger side kick panel. Let me know what you find.